Citation: R v Tatarinova [2004] NSWSC 676
Court: Supreme Court of New South Wales, Common Law Division
Date: 30 July 2004
Judge: Kirby J
Background
The accused, a Russian-born woman who had recently migrated to Australia with her teenage daughter, was charged with the murder of her 14-year-old daughter at Penshurst on 16 August 2003. In the weeks before the killing, the accused had experienced a rapid deterioration in her mental state, including severe depression, sleeplessness, panic attacks, and, in the days immediately before the offence, auditory and visual hallucinations.
The accused came to believe that a voice she identified as God was instructing her to kill her daughter, and that her daughter had been overtaken by an evil spirit. She stabbed her daughter once in the chest in the early hours of the morning, causing almost immediate death. She was found shortly afterwards in a semi-foetal position and was taken to hospital, where treating clinicians observed her to be profoundly unwell.
The accused pleaded not guilty and raised the defence of mental illness. With the Crown's consent, she elected to be tried by judge alone. The sole question before Kirby J was whether the accused was mentally ill at the time of the killing so as not to be criminally responsible for the offence.
Legal Issues
- Whether the accused satisfied the mental illness defence under s 38 of the Mental Health (Criminal Procedure) Act 1990 (NSW)
- Specifically, whether the accused was, at the time of the offence, labouring under such a defect of reason from disease of the mind that she either did not know the nature and quality of her act, or did not know that what she was doing was wrong, as required by M'Naghten's case (1843)
Decision
Kirby J identified the M'Naghten test as the operative legal standard. The onus lay on the accused to establish, on the balance of probabilities, that she was suffering from a defect of reason caused by a disease of the mind at the time of the offence, and that this prevented her from knowing either the nature and quality of her act or that it was wrong.
Four forensic psychiatrists gave evidence, all of whom agreed that the accused was suffering from a major depressive illness with psychotic features at the time of the offence. Each expressed the opinion that she met the M'Naghten test. The Crown's own expert, Dr Nielssen, concluded that the accused had been aware of the physical nature of her actions but had not understood them to be wrong, as she genuinely believed she was acting on divine instruction. The effect of commanding hallucinations had disabled her capacity to reason about the moral quality of her conduct.
Kirby J accepted the unanimous psychiatric evidence without reservation. His Honour found that the accused did not know that what she was doing was wrong, satisfying the second limb of the M'Naghten test. Accordingly, she was found not guilty of murder by reason of mental illness.
Orders Made
- The accused is to be detained in the Bunya Forensic Unit at Cumberland Hospital, or such other place as may be determined by the Mental Health Review Tribunal, until released by due process of law.
Key Takeaways
- The Supreme Court applied the long-standing M'Naghten test, which requires an accused to prove, on the balance of probabilities, a defect of reason from disease of the mind causing either ignorance of the nature and quality of the act or ignorance that the act was wrong.
- Under s 38 of the Mental Health (Criminal Procedure) Act 1990, a special verdict of not guilty by reason of mental illness does not result in acquittal and release; the court's order mandates detention pending determination by the Mental Health Review Tribunal.
- Unanimous expert psychiatric evidence from four forensic psychiatrists, including one engaged by the Crown, supported the mental illness defence. No contradictory expert opinion was before the court.
- A psychotic illness causing commanding hallucinations and delusional beliefs can satisfy the M'Naghten test even where the accused retained awareness of the physical nature of the act, provided the illness prevented recognition that the act was morally wrong.
- A judge-alone trial is available in serious criminal matters, including murder, where the Crown consents to the accused's election to proceed that way.
Legislation and Cases Referenced
Legislation
- Mental Health (Criminal Procedure) Act 1990 (NSW), s 38
- Crimes Act 1900 (NSW), s 23A
Cases
- M'Naghten's Case (1843) 10 Cl & Fin 200; 8 ER 718